Originally, I planned to write this week's column from Sri Lanka. I had envisioned myself waxing eloquent from the seclusion of a stringy hammock suspended between two leafy palms on a sandy beach overlooking a Ceylonese sunset.
But fate is a cruel mistress. Far from a hammock and Sri Lanka, I'm sitting on the same ugly but ergonomic chair in front of the same equally ugly but trusty Lenovo as I do on any given day.
You see, this is the year that I decided to get into the spirit of Eid Al Adha - and for the first time in my life, make an actual "sacrifice".
Growing up as a Muslim, one gets used to answering questions about the religious significance of the sacrifice and explaining that what seems to be a pagan ritual is actually a symbolic homage paid to prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son in the name of Allah.
For the first time in almost 32 years, instead of simply paying to have an animal slaughtered at an abattoir, I experienced what it means to sacrifice something I actually cared about. Truth be told, I didn't do it willingly.
A day before I was supposed to fly to Sri Lanka with my friends, it turned out that - between me and a colleague who had a wedding to attend - only one person could go. When push comes to shove, I'm just a huge softy. Add to that the whole baggage of Eid Al Adha and its spirit of sacrifice, and I threw in the towel. Off he went and I stayed back.
I was preparing myself to spend a surly weekend sulking about the lack of Ceylon tea but it turned out that the UAE had plenty in store to pacify me.
For starters, not only was it Eid, but also Halloween. Even though the actual day isn't until tomorrow, there have already been a number of Halloween parties.
I went to the Monster Halloween Costume Party at Nasimi Beach last Friday. If nothing else, it drove home a realisation: an alarming number of otherwise decent girls use Halloween as an excuse to dress up like drastically less decent girls. What should actually be a spook fest turns into a romp through Hugh Hefner's backyard.
That's how it went down at Nasimi. Among scores of scantily clad cops and naughty nurses, I stuck out like a sore thumb. There was nothing remotely sexy about my zombie bride get-up.
Despite seeing a lot more of people than I would have liked to have seen, it was an amazing party with some very creative costumes. Nobody dressed up by accident that night, though: Nasimi promised Dh30,000 in prizes to the best-dressed revellers.
If you missed that party but still want a shot at scoring some big bucks, then there are a couple of other parties around the corner on actual All Hallow's Eve: Armani/Privé at Burj Khalifa is hosting an Angels and Demons party tomorrow, with prizes totalling Dh20,000. Domeland by Chi at Al Nasr Leisureland is hosting Spooktacular Halloween the same day. Costumed guests get the chance to win Dh30,000.
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The bio
Favourite vegetable: Broccoli
Favourite food: Seafood
Favourite thing to cook: Duck l'orange
Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania
Favourite place to travel: Home in Kuwait.
Favourite place in the UAE: Al Qudra lakes
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
MATCH INFO
Liverpool v Manchester City, Sunday, 8.30pm UAE
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
Match info
Newcastle United 1
Joselu (11')
Tottenham Hotspur 2
Vertonghen (8'), Alli (18')
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
Fire and Fury
By Michael Wolff,
Henry Holt
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Profile
Company: Libra Project
Based: Masdar City, ADGM, London and Delaware
Launch year: 2017
Size: A team of 12 with six employed full-time
Sector: Renewable energy
Funding: $500,000 in Series A funding from family and friends in 2018. A Series B round looking to raise $1.5m is now live.
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It
Director: Andres Muschietti
Starring: Bill Skarsgard, Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor
Three stars
Play-off fixtures
Two-legged ties to be played November 9-11 and November 12-14
- Northern Ireland v Switzerland
- Croatia v Greece
- Denmark v Ireland
- Sweden v Italy
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre flat-six twin-turbocharged
Transmission: eight-speed PDK automatic
Power: 445bhp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh474,600
On Sale: Now
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.